Perennials: The pinnacle of Salvia blooms, 1 by drdon

drdon wrote:
As a collector of this genus, I had been looking for Salvia divinorum for a long time. When I finally found a grower that would sell me a couple of cuttings of this plant, I grabbed them. It is also a potent psychoactive plant that has been hijacked by the "hunting for a buzz" crowd. So it is now grown in many nurseries that dry it and sell the leaves....basically as a hallucinogenic substitute for illegal substances.

Betsy Clebsch, in her book on the genus Salvia has stated that she had never even heard of this plant being seen in bloom outside of its habitat in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, and tried several times to get it to bloom in her greenhouse and was never successful. Others I respect as plantsmen and women have also tried and never got this plant to bloom.

Well, as I know it right now from email conversations with a few plant curators at botanical gardens in New York, Canada, and here in CA, it has never been seen in bloom in captivity......until now.

I happily share with all of my perennial friends what is widely considered as the holy grail of Salvia flowers. They've been blooming now for a few weeks and before I would show them here I made sure with some authorities that needed to see them in bloom and verify that they are true to the species. They are and here is a pic. This is a huge treat for us as we really love the genus and avidly collect and enjoy it.

hope everyone is enjoying the holidays,
don